TakaMomo 30 kisses
by Nueva Yui Maxwell
Summary: Series of short storiesdrabbles revolving around Kawamura TakashiMomoshiro Takeshi. Second: 'Summer Rain': But it happened so fast....Warning: Character Death. done for the LJ community 30kisses
1. Private Lessons

**Title**: Private Lessons  
**Theme**: #17. kHz (kilohertz)  
**Disclaimer**: Tennis no Oujisama belongs to Konomi Takeshi

Kawamura gritted his teeth in frustration, trying to stop a sigh from escaping his lips. Trying to calm himself down, he closed his eyes and rolled his head back, asking the Heavens why physics didn't come to him as easily as tennis did. Not that he was a genius like his former buchou or his former double partner, but at least he wouldn't find himself on the verge of failing his physic class. He looked back down at his manual, once again trying to figure out the way to resolve one particularly hard oscillation problem. He was not an idiot, but high school physic classes seemed at the moment way beyond his abilities.

When Momoshiro heard Kawamura sigh for the third time, he decided it was time to step in. Putting down his own homework, he shifted over and leaned on the brown haired boy's back:

"Let me help you, Taka-san," he said, passing one hand over Kawamura's shoulder to gain more stability as he started to read the opened book on Kawamura's lap.

Takashi rapidly felt his cheeks grow warm with a blush. When he had invited Momoshiro over so to help each other with their homework, he never expected to end up in such a close position: his friend's head rested on his shoulder while his chin was cradled in the crook of Kawamura's neck. He could feel Momoshiro's warmth through both their uniforms and his breath on his skin was driving him crazy. He closed his eyes, concentrating on calming his erratic heartbeat when he noticed that he could feel Momoshiro's too. He swallowed hard:

"Mo…Momo-chan…would…could you…please?" he whispered softly.

Momoshiro blinked, realizing he had totally invaded Kawamura's personal space so he moved away, not without hearing the boy's sigh as the distance between their bodies increased. He felt his heart drop at the sound of it and tried to convince himself that it was simply because Kawamura was not used to such close contact. With a slight pout, he grabbed the taller boy's answer sheet and quickly reviewed it.

"…Oh…you're almost there! Two more lines in your demonstration and you've got the right answer!" Momoshiro grinned as he gave him back his sheet. Kawamura's eyebrow raised up in surprised: "Really…? It…it must be luck!" he shrugged, letting the self-doubts resurface.

"Ah…" nodded the black haired boy. "And to make sure it's not luck, we'll make a deal. If you're able to do the next one without my help, you'll get a surprise!"

"A surprise?"

"Hai! Our teacher calls it 'positive reinforcement'! It's supposed to motivate you!" Momoshiro added, nodding like he knew exactly what he was talking about, before sitting on the floor with his books. Although he looked convincing, Kawamura knew he was acting and he could not repress a chuckle that ended up as a small smile:

"I…I'll try my best!"

The next half hour was spent in silence, except for the sound of pen scratching paper, sighs, teeth biting wood and rustling papers. From time to time, Momoshiro would look up at Kawamura, finding the sight of the soft-spoken boy lost in concentration somehow endearing. Brown brows knitted together in a thoughtful frown, one slender finger tapping lightly on thin lips, broad shoulders slouched forward as if their were supporting the weight of the world. Those were images Momoshiro had seen hundreds of times now but he was never getting tired of them. Kawamura's inability to hide his true emotions was one of the many things that had drawn the black-haired boy closer to his sempai. Momoshiro knew anything Kawamura would do or say would always be done or said in the most honest way. Nothing ever underlying, nothing ever kept hidden. And to Momoshiro's eyes, it was as comforting as it was frightening. But his musings were interrupted as the taller boy lifted up his head, looking directly into Momoshiro's violet eyes, a glint of his more confident self shining in his hazelnut ones.

"I think I got it…" he smiled, lending his answer sheet once again to his friend.

Momoshiro reviewed Kawamura's newest work, and was grinning by the end of it: "You did it, Taka-san! I think you mastered it!"

Momoshiro's heart jumped as his grin was met with one of biggest smile Kawamura could muster without his racket:

"Can…can I have my surprise now?"

Momoshiro's eyes shot wide-open as he jumped to his feet. The surprise! He had stopped thinking about that a while ago!

"Hai! Just…just close your eyes for a second!"

As Kawamura complied to his request, Momoshiro looked around, half panicking, for a surprise. He had not thought in advance about what he could give his sempai, and as he turned his backpack upside down, his mind raced as to what would make Kawamura happy. He looked at him, sitting calmly on his bed, his back to the wall, eyes closed, waiting patiently. Momoshiro stopped moving for a moment and smiled, feeling as bold as ever as he climbed on the bed, carefully resting his legs besides Kawamura's without touching them, using his arms to brace himself against the wall. He leaned over the taller boy and lightly brushed his own lips over his friend's. Kawamura gasped in surprise, opening his eyes and jerking his head backwards into the wall.

"Ow…"

Momoshiro couldn't express how rejected he felt when Kawamura moved away from him, and leaned back, his gaze locked down.

"S…sorry…I…don't know what I was thinking…" he lied as he turned around to get off of the bed. But Kawamura's strong fingers closed around his wrist and pulled his arm forward as another hand pressed him to his initial position. Warm lips crushed his lightly and before he knew it, Momoshiro was kissing back, one hand closing over Kawamura's neck.

When the boys finally broke the kiss for need of air, Momoshiro smiled, pressing his forehead on Kawamura's:

"…I hope you're good in biology…I definitely need some help in that class…" he smiled.

Kawamura smiled back, and only answered him with another kiss.


	2. Summer Rain

** Title**: Summer Rain  
**Pairing**: Kawamura Takashi/Momoshiro Takeshi  
** Theme**: #27. overflow  
** Disclaimer**: Tennis no Oujisama belongs to Konomi Takeshi  
**Warning**: Character Death

* * *

"So I guess he's not going to come today either…."sighed Kikumaru Eiji as he put his head over his crossed arms laying on his desk, his gaze turned to the empty seat at the back of the class. He played with the black armband tied on his left arm for a moment before hiding his face in his arms, tears threatening to spill out again.

"It's only been a week…" Oishi answered softly, one comforting hand rubbing circles on the redhead's back.

"It's the fourth practice he's missing," Tezuka stated coldly. Eiji lifted his head from his arms and sent him a dirty look, clearly challenging his captain's words:

"I don't think tennis is a priority for him at the moment…" the acrobatic player spat out, immediately regretting his tone. Tezuka didn't seem fazed by Eiji's outburst, and looked up at Echizen, who was silently leaning against the doorway:

"Ranking matches are in two weeks. He better not be sloppy." The youngest member of the Seigaku regulars nodded, confirming the captain's message would be delivered.

* * *

_"Taka-san! What are you doing? If you catch a cold, Tezuka-buchou is gonna kill you!" laughed Momoshiro as he looked at the taller boy, arms stretched out, palms in the air, face towards the Heavens, smiling in the summer rain. _

_"My Obaachan used to say you can kiss the departed in the rain…" _

_Momoshiro couldn't do anything else but smile at Kawamura's answer. He looked so calm, so content, so beautiful with the water dripping from the brown hair, gliding against the strong jaw line and dying at the birth of broad shoulders, that Momoshiro couldn't help himself and pulled him closer, asking why his sempai would waste time kissing dead people when he could kiss living ones. And their first kiss had taste of summer rain and laughter._

* * *

But _it_ happened so fast. Momoshiro caught a bad cold and stayed home for several days. And despite schoolwork, tennis practices and helping his father with the shop, Kawamura had visited him everyday. Everyday except one.

Momoshiro had waited for Kawamura to show up until way past his sempai's curfew. He was disappointed of not seeing him, but figured out that work at the sushi shop might have been busy and the tall boy had not been able to come visit him. He was about to go to bed when the door bell finally rang. Momoshiro opened the door with his usual huge grin, expecting to see Kawamura on the porch, his cheeks coloured with a faint blush, as usual. But his grin dropped and his heart skipped a beat when he saw Akutsu Jin standing there, eyes red and puffy. He didn't quite understand what he was stuttering, but when the words 'accident' and 'hospital' came out, Momoshiro thought he had been stabbed in the heart. He only had time to grab his Seigaku jacket before Akutsu pulled on his arm and found himself running as fast as he could, following the white haired giant in the night.

But Momoshiro reached the hospital just in time to be told that Kawamura had left the world, had left _his_ world painlessly. The boy could only drop to his knees, his cry muffled by Kawamura's mother's shoulder as she hugged him tight.

* * *

The funeral felt surreal to Momoshiro. The ceremony had taken longer than usual, everyone having to say something nice about Kawamura Takashi. Every regular on Seigaku's tennis team had gone in front of the people to share stories about their powerhouse player. Everyone but Momoshiro. He couldn't muster the courage to speak.

When the team, and other players from several other schools, raised their racket up in a last salute to their departed friend, Momoshiro stayed in the back of the church, not joining them.

At the cemetery, everyone had thrown a handful of dirt and a white rose over Kawamura's coffin, everyone but Momoshiro.

But his behaviour had not gone unnoticed, and when most of the crowd had scattered away, a tear-stricken Eiji confronted him. All Momoshiro could feel was the sting of redhead's fist connecting with his face, and he silently listened to Eiji accusing him of being cold-hearted and without an ounce of compassion. Each word hurt him more than the punch but Momoshiro kept it to himself. He couldn't tell his team mates he thought that by not joining them in sorrow, he would wake up from this nightmare. He couldn't tell them of the guilt eating him inside, of the fact that he felt responsible for Kawamura's death. Because would it have not been for Kawamura's devotion to him, he would have gone out of his usual way to pick up Momoshiro's favorite food, he wouldn't have found himself on the crash course of that drunk driver. He couldn't tell them that if it had not been of their relationship, Kawamura would still be alive, and they would be playing tennis instead of standing in a cemetery. So he only stood there, letting Eiji beat his chest with his small fists, until Oishi and Fuji pried him away from Momoshiro before he broke down in the fukubuchou's arms. The walk back home was only a blurry memory, and he wasn't sure he would have found his way if it had not been of Tezuka and Ryoma walking him back. He had gone straight to his room and had not really left it since that day.

* * *

That's where Echizen found him, lying on his bed, one arm over his eyes. They were still dry, and Ryoma wondered if his friend would ever be able of letting go and live his mourning one day.

The small boy sat down by the bed, and said nothing, knowing well that Momoshiro knew he was there.

"I'm alive." he said after a moment of silence, his coarse voice betraying the silent treatment he had giving the household for the past week. He was about to send off Ryoma when his younger friend spoke up:

"Ranking matches are in two weeks." he said, repeating Tezuka's words. Momoshiro turned his head toward the boy, moving his arm to his side as he glared at him.

"I don't care about loosing my place amongst the regulars. In fact, I couldn't care less about tennis!" he spat out, his tone flirting with vehemency. Ryoma only raised an eyebrow at the older boy's words.

"I don't think he would have liked you to say that, Momo-chan."

"Really, I don't fucking care about what Tezuka-buchou would like me to say or not." he growled, turning his back to Ryoma, purposefully ending their conversation. Echizen stood up and put down the black armband Oishi had prepared for Momoshiro on the chair he had been sitting on.

"I wasn't talking about Tezuka-buchou." he finally said as he left the room. Momoshiro turned around to tell him off, but his eyes rested on the black fabric. He choked on a cry and closed his eyes, fighting against the painful sorrow that threatened to overflow him.

* * *

Momoshiro looked up at the tombstone, shifting his tennis bag nervously on his other shoulder, straightening his jacket and the black armband. He didn't know why he felt so nervous to be there, like as if he was intruding or something. It had only been a week since he had been there, but already flowers was covering the headstone. Momoshiro even noticed Kawamura's racquet amongst the gifts lying there. Without thinking, he opened his bag and exchanged the racquet for his own, feeling that keeping Kawamura's racquet was like keeping a part of him for the rest of his life. He somehow knew Kawamura's parents wouldn't mind the trade. The wind picked up around him, and with a soft sigh, he finally spoke up:

"Taka-san…I'm…I'm so sorry…there is so many things I'd like to tell…you…" his voice broke as he blinked back his tears. He could hear the wind through the trees and he noticed in the back of his mind that raindrops were starting to fall.

"I…I wanted to say…I…I'm gonna miss you so much…I miss you so much already…"he whispered, not holding back his tears anymore.

"…I…I'll never forget you…I promise…" he moaned as he hugged the racquet closer, the rain now falling steadily. It seems to him that in another life he would have found his next actions hilarious, but there were words he wanted to say, and he deeply wished Kawamura would hear them, wherever he had gone to.

Momoshiro opened his arms up, and turned his palms and face to the sky. He blinked a few times as the rain mingled with his tears and breathed deeply.

"There's one last thing…I want to tell you…I wanted to tell you that…night…I…" he sobbed for a moment, unable to finish his sentence. As the setting sun sneaked out between two clouds, orange and red lights lit up the sky. Somehow, Momoshiro felt warmer despite the rain and knew he was not alone anymore.

"Taka-san…I…I love you." he whispered softly, closing his eyes thinking of Kawamura's smile.

And their last kiss had taste of summer rain and tears. 


End file.
